All-American sporting hero puts down the ball to take up arms

By David Wastell

12:01AM BST 14 Jul 2002

Not since Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and a handful of fellow Hollywood stars joined up to fight Hitler has America come alive to the idea of a real-life, all-American hero who sacrifices riches and fame to fight for his country. Now it has Pat Tillman.

Tillman, 25, a legend among Arizona Cardinals fans after completing 224 successful tackles in the 2000 season and setting a club record, has become an inspiration for American youth by joining the army. Last week the football star from San Jose, California, reported to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training, which he hopes will lead to his acceptance in America's elite Rangers.

John McCain, the Vietnam war veteran who ran against President Bush in the 2000 presidential election, said Tillman's move made it clear that it was no longer "uncool" to join the military.

Tillman's decision to join the Rangers, whose forces have been in the forefront of the battle against al-Qa'eda in Afghanistan, came as a shock to his coach and team-mates. But it delighted much of middle America, triggering an outpouring of patriotic sentiment and calls for other "pampered" sportsmen to follow his lead.

More than that, it has set what many hope will be an example to young Americans to "walk the walk", as one newspaper columnist put it, and do more than wave flags and sing the national anthem at football games.

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Tillman has declined to give interviews, but his friends say he was inspired to take up arms by the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Although applications to join the military have been flat since September 11, requests to join the special forces have shot up as a result of their role in Afghanistan. It came as a surprise to Dave McGinnis, the Arizona Cardinals' coach, when, last month, Tillman announced that he had passed the Army Rangers physical and was signed up for boot camp.

His 13 weeks of basic training started last week, to be followed this year by nine weeks of the toughest regime the United States Army can devise, enduring live fire exercises anywhere from freezing mountainsides to insect-infested swamps.

Unknown to Cardinals supporters, Tillman and Kevin, his younger brother, began seriously to consider a military career last autumn, travelling to neighbouring Colorado, where he was less likely to attract attention, to apply to enlist. His army pay will be $17,316 (£11,175) a year, one seventieth of what he would have earned had he carried on playing football.

At just under six feet tall and weighing around 14st, Tillman is less hulking than many of his team-mates. He is also unconventional for a footballer in other ways, a fact more likely to enable him to complete Rangers training successfully - two out of three candidates fail the course. One of Tillman's favourite spots at the Cardinals stadium was 260 feet up a stadium light tower, which he would climb to look out over the world below. "He's fearless," said a former coach.

He also shuns the flashy cars and lifestyle of many professional football players. His decision has, however, sparked calls for other American sportsmen to follow suit. "Patriotism to most Americans means little more than displaying a flag," wrote Fred Schmokel, a retired colonel, in a letter to a sporting newspaper. "Pat Tillman knows what it really takes: honour, integrity, self sacrifice - words seemingly lost on other pro athletes."